Side load can be hard on the fingers.
Side load can be hard on the fingers.
Stop being blinded by your own ignorance.
I have a Henry in 45-70...I must say...I love the tube mag. For me its fine at the range because I need a break between each shot. The shoulders aren't what they used to be. At the range I typically load one at a time through bolt opening. But for hunting, it is convenient to pull the tube and just dump the cartridges out all at once. No need for multiple cycling of the action. (other than twice when empty to verify empty)
I'm a Henry guy for life now. Their customer service has been top notch for me. (I work customer service for a semiconductor diagnostic equipment supplier, so I'm a bit picky about it)
redhawk
The only stupid question...is the unasked one.
Not all who wander....are lost.
"Common Sense" is like a flower. It doesn't grow in everyone's garden.
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger...or mutates...then tries to kill you again!
If more government is the answer, then it was a really stupid question. - Ronald Reagan
I have a Henry big boy brass in 44 mag. my brother has the Marlin. My Henry is not only gorgeous but... heavy. octagon barrels are heavy. The Marlin is lighter and handier but the fit and finish is... well.. not in the same ball park. Smoothness.... hmm... how do I say this? the marlin is anything but smooth. And the lever is small and sharp. the Henry is actually a joy to work the action.... except...........
I own a lot of 44 mag guns. the loads I like don't work in either gun. One thing Henry copied from Marlin was the lousy twist rate and over all length (of round) limitation. I used to shoot Keith style 240-250 grain cast SWC bullets in my 44's.. not gonna do that with either the Marlin or the Henry. I bought 245 grain round nose flat point molds for the guns with a short nose. The Henry still feeds better tho and cycles much more smoothly.. yeah.. sorry but that is the truth.
Accuracy.. the Marlin has a peep sight that I put on for him and the accuracy between the two guns was close... edge to the Henry. But I put a Skinner sight on the Henry (a 'ghost' ring) and now it really is no contest... winner? Henry.
Tube vs loading gate... Yep... nice to be able to unload safely.. Also... It is actually clumsy and a bit difficult to use a loading gate unless you grew up with one. The tube mag is really really easy to top off. I can have a handful of rounds. I can take the tube out completely and stick it under my arm and then drop rounds in the tube. My brother has to add rounds one at a time through a sticky loading gate. I will beat him every time if more than one or two rounds are needed to top off... also.. I can use a speedloader.. this is just a tube with rounds in it.. capped at one end and a hitch pin on the other.
the Henry has a transfer bar. the only kind of safety I can really stand. the Henry is simply a safer gun to carry and use. Both guns are easy to carry with an old military sling.
ejection.. I don't want a scope on either gun so it is not important to me.
Function. The Marlin tends to 'hang' up more. that is subjective of course but between the narrow lever and the sharp edges it is more likely you will not forcefully work the action.
Twist rate.. both guns are horrible. But... I have loaded 285 grain cast flat nose bullets for the guns.. The Henry seems to actually like them which. .is odd given the slow twist of these guns... The Marlin? not so much. On the other end.. The Marlin likes the 215 cast bullet with gas check and the Henry hates it.
Curb appeal... Henry clear winner... for most people that is.. If you have been around Winchesters and Marlins all your life then maybe not so much. There is no doubt tho that the high polish and finish work for the ewwwww and ahhhhh factor for the man on the street is definitely in the Henry's favor.
Cost.. Marlin clear winner for the most part. I paid twice as much for my then new on the market Big Boy as my brother did for his used Marlin. Nowdays? to find the Marlin you want may cost as much as a used Big Boy.
lazs
Lazs
Nice write up and comparison between the two. One thing you left out. Customer service. Marlin Crapola Henry Second to none. Al
NRA Life Member
Guns have two enemies Rust and Politicians
I own Marlins, Winchester, Savage, Henry,and Rossi leverguns in all calibers and they are all different and have there good points. Right now I would have to say the Henry is the only one with any factory support and with there " lifetime " warranty the best bet if you need any service and they pay shipping to fix there guns and that's worth a lot to me.
They all shoot and handle good, the looks are what you like, the tube feed is no issue with me either as I have had rimfires with tube mags my whole life.
Jedman
There is nothing wrong with the way any of em shoot. I was shocked at how well the Rossi .357 gun shot when I tried one. I kinda wish Henry made a 92 Winchester clone in both 44 mag and in .357 and even 41 mag.. with a lighter barrel for a handy lighter gun. Henry quality and fit would make it a very nice gun in my opinion.
Forget if it was a Rossi now but I seen a .357 lever gun that was nickle plated... would love to find one.
lazs
They are both pretty good but if I had to choose one, easy; Henry. Their quality is very good and the warranty is just the best.
Henry. Freedom Group has destroyed Marlin. Their new guns are garbage.
I bought a Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt earlier this year to use as a camp/hiking/Jeep gun. My last Marlin was a JM stamped 1894 in .357 mag that I bought used at a gun shop in Arizona for $425 in 2008. Beautiful little rifle. Sold it for $1000. It was just too pretty to use in the woods and I needed the money after my divorce in 2013.
My new Marlin arrived with substantially less impressive fit and finish. And it wouldn't cycle or feed rounds reliably. I ended up having to do my own research and gunsmithing work on it to get to feed reliably and buy a new magazine tube follower since the factory one was cracked. With less than 20 rounds through it.
I've had to replace screws that broke apart and the accuracy is only so-so. I joined a Marlin forum and they had some real horror stories about the new Marlins and the lack of customer service.
Stay away!!
After a lot of cussing and replacing parts and doing some filing and polishing, my rifle is a great little woods carbine...
Attachment 217274
My new Marlin is good - I bought it new about 6 months ago. It's an 1895 and it shoots straight and is very strong - I've run some stout rounds through it.
The finish is OK. I put a new skinner sight on and sighted it in today and all my shots were going left by about 6". When we looked, where the scope mounts (used for the sight) were drilled were perfectly in line, but about 1-2mm off center to the left. So, my sight is not quite lined up, but it shoots nicely.
Yeah, lots of reports of new Marlins with the sights off center.
That's an immediate no-go for me. I guess other folks are OK with such an obvious flaw in a new rifle. But if they can't even get the sights on straight, then what the hell else have they screwed up on the rifle??
My front sight dovetail was machined improperly and the front sight wiggled around and can be popped out by hand. Freaking embarrassing for anyone that knows what quality firearms are like.
The fat bore is not a Marlin spec it is a SAAMI spec. Not sure why but SAAMI spec for handgun is 0.429" groove and for rifle it is 0.431" groove. Plus the bullet spec is 0.432" go figure.
Before I knew that I spent some time trying to get boolits cast in Lyman moulds to shoot in my Marlin but they were all "undersize" so accuracy was not good. Once I figured it out and fattened the boolits up to suit the bore things got much better.
Longbow
I honestly have not checked the bore size of either the Henry or the Marlin! I did not know the rifle and handgun were different specs. I have a lot of 44 mag handguns tho and I generally make my bullets .431 for those guns so maybe I just lucked into a good fit?
lazs
I 've got a 20" .357 Henry in brass. Beautiful rifle and very accurate. But the darn thing is far too heavy for any extended off hand shooting. I'm wishing I got a mint old ballard Marlin.
I thought Henry started to fix the rate of twist issue and moving forward they are running a 1-16??
NOPE, It was a typo on their website.
The Long story:
A castboolit member seen the fast twist rate on the website page for their new case colored rifle, but they listed the old slow twist on the Carbine. He called Henry and asked about it, and whoever answered the phone say that their Tech people would never put incorrect info on their website, they said if that is what is on the website, it's legit.
So, I have a excellent and very knowledgeable contact there, I sent an email explaining the same in great detail. I get a response that it's a typo, and it was corrected soon after that. All modern Henry leveraction 44 Mag rifles have 1:38 twist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001
when I by my next hunting rifle it will be this https://www.henryusa.com/rifles/the-long-ranger/
14th VA. CAV.
N_SSA
got tired of hunting for a good Marlin in .41 mag and got a new Henry "Big Boy Steel" 20" .41mag. It was a toss up between the 16" and the 20", the 16 might be a little quicker handling and I liked the bigger loop, but going into the woods where coyotes prowl, I went with the 10 round 20".
I have several rounds of 220gn Speer SP loaded and several rounds loaded with a Lyman 214gn lead bullet. Do these function in a Henry, does anyone have experience with these bullets in a Henry?
My Henry, same as yours, has been able to cycle and chamber anything I've thrown at it. Accuracy has been hit or miss with my cast loads. Ive noticed with mine, it needs gas checked boolits if cranking up the velocity. I did shoot a deer with it at approx. 75 yards with a moderate dose of 4227 and a 235 WFN design a few years ago. Worked just fine. My favorite so far has been a 255gr WFNGC (LBT design)with a healthy dose of 296. Jacketed has always shot well for me out of it and near Max dose of 296 (21 gr IIRC) and a 210 XTP are the way to go. Thanks for the update.
I have had Henry rifles, they are good and never had a problem with them. I do not own a Henry now and don't see me buying another Henry in the future.
I have a Marlin 1894 CSBL in 357 Mag and a Winchester 1892 in 44 Mag (New Production) I like the Marlin and Winchester over the Henry just because I like the looks of the rifles better and the way the function. Warranty Henry is top notch. But if I was to buy another center fire it would be a Marlin, Winchester or even a Browning. Really just my preference.
Aim Small, Miss Small.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |